Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

Li Yu suddenly laughed. "Repay? You make it sound so easy. How are you going to repay it? With what? With the relief money Qin Huairu cries out for every month? Or with the boxed lunches Sha Zhu brings from the steel mill?"

After saying that, he turned to Qin Huairu and said, "Don't cry. Your tears are worthless. You don't have to return this."

Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu were both taken aback, while Yi Zhonghai showed an expression that said, "That makes sense." Li Yu slowly picked up a wooden stick from a corner and weighed it in his palm.

He looked at Banggeng, who was hiding behind Qin Huairu: "Come here, Banggeng." Banggeng shuddered and hurriedly hid behind Qin Huairu.

"Children are young and don't know any better, so they need to be taught," Li Yu said, taking a step forward, his demeanor suddenly becoming extremely imposing.

"Today I will teach him, on behalf of his deceased father, what it means to not take other people's things."

Before he could finish speaking, he swung his arm and a crisp "snap!" rang out.

The stick struck the buttocks of the staff squarely.

"Aww~" Bang Geng's pig-like scream burst out of the courtyard. He was hit so hard that he lurched forward, fell to the ground with snot and tears all over his face, and wailed while covering his buttocks.

Everyone was stunned. Qin Huairu's crying stopped abruptly, her eyes widened, Sha Zhu's raised fist froze in mid-air, and Uncle Yan Bugui's glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose.

Madam Jia rushed over and picked up Banggeng, glaring fiercely at Li Yu as she cried, "My dear grandson Banggeng, are you alright?"

Li Yu flicked his wrist, as if he had just brushed off some dust.

He looked at Qin Huairu and said with a hint of regret in his voice:

"Qin Huairu's move is a fair return for what she did to me today, and it still owes me for what you 'borrowed' from my house before," he said, raising the wooden stick in his hand as if to strike again.

"Li Yu, how dare you!" Sha Zhu roared and pounced on him.

Without even looking at him, Li Yu swung his stick back and struck him precisely on the ulnar nerve in his elbow.

"Ouch!"

Sha Zhu's entire hand suddenly went numb, followed by excruciating pain.

Li Yu then struck Bang Geng's leg with a stick. Although he held back and didn't break the leg, Bang Geng still jumped up with a "whoop" and hugged his leg, jumping wildly.

Then she collapsed to the ground and cried so hard she almost passed out.

[Ding! Emotional value collected: 99, 99, 99, 99...]

System notifications rang in Li Yu's mind one after another.

The room was deathly silent, except for Bang Geng's heart-wrenching cries. No one had expected that Li Yu, who had been so timid before, would be so cruel today.

Qin Huairu hurriedly hugged her son, her heart breaking instantly. Her gaze towards Li Yu was filled with icy hatred, like a poisoned needle.

Sha Zhu, supporting his aching and numb arm, panted heavily, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Li Yu, wishing he could devour him alive.

Li Yu, however, acted as if he had done something insignificant, casually tossing the wooden stick back to the corner and dusting off imaginary dust from his hands.

"Qin Huairu, we're even now," he said casually.

"By the way, keep a close eye on your own kids before you try to trespass into my house." He paused, then looked at He Yuzhu, "I don't mind helping his father discipline him properly. If something's missing, then it'll be hard to say."

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward and said, "You've paid your debt by hitting Bang Geng, but what about He Yuzhu? Now you either have to pay He Yuzhu 500 yuan, or I'll report you to the police."

Li Yu was so angry at Yi Zhonghai's double standards that he laughed out loud.

"Yi Zhonghai, you think you're the boss just because I call you 'Grandpa'? Didn't you see that Sha Zhu started it? Stop looking for trouble and go back to having a baby."

[Ding! Received 199 points of malicious sentiment from Yi Zhonghai]

Yi Zhonghai took a step back and looked at Li Yu, trembling with anger. He stammered "You, you, you" for a long time but couldn't say anything.

Just then, Liu Haizhong saw someone standing at the entrance of the Intermediate People's Court. He looked closely and realized it was Director Wang. What was she doing here?

He hurried over, a sheepish grin on his face, and asked Director Wang, "What brings you here? What brings you here? Does the neighborhood office have any instructions?"

Director Wang glanced at Liu Haizhong and walked straight in. Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui also made way for Director Wang when they saw him coming.

Director Wang looked at the three old men with a cold face and said:

"Is this how you mediate neighborhood disputes in your courtyard? Everyone's fighting like crazy, what kind of scene is this? You've taught me a lesson. Come here, Yi Zhonghai, tell me what it means to resolve matters within the courtyard."

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale instantly, and he quickly tried to defend himself.

"Director Wang, please listen to me." Director Wang said coldly, "What are you talking about? How you covered things up and forced donations? Or how you acted like a tyrant in the courtyard?"

Seeing that Director Wang was getting more and more excited, the deaf old lady sitting next to Yi Zhonghai spoke up.

"Wang girl, Zhonghai and the others may not have done a good job, but they are doing it for their neighbors in need. We can't just watch the Jia family starve to death. Please forgive Zhonghai this time for my sake."

Director Wang looked at the old lady. When the subdistrict office was first established, the old lady donated her courtyard house to the subdistrict office, which gave Director Wang a political achievement.

So every time I came to the courtyard house, I would visit her. It was because of the old lady that Yi Zhonghai was chosen as the liaison officer.

Director Wang said, "This matter concerns the interests of every household in the courtyard, and we can't just let it go like this." The deaf old lady, upon hearing Director Wang's words, continued...

"Grandma, I'm getting old too. Please, let Zhonghai go this time. Is that alright? I want to retire in this courtyard from now on."

Director Wang immediately knew that the old lady wanted her help one last time. Director Wang looked at the old lady and said...

"Since the old lady has said so, then as long as the Jia family returns the previous donations, the three liaison officers will sweep the streets for a month."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi jumped up immediately, "What! What money are you asking for? My family has no money. Who remembers how much each family donated? We can't refund it!"

Just then, Xu Damao spoke up: "Third Uncle keeps a record of every donation. Just have Third Uncle show us the registration book and we can get a refund."

Upon hearing Xu Damao's words, Jia Zhangshi immediately launched into a tirade against him: "You dead child, what business is it of yours? Who gave you permission to speak?" "Jia Zhangshi, shut up!" Director Wang roared, and Jia Zhangshi shrank back when she saw Director Wang's reaction.

Then Yan Bugui came out with the registration book. Director Wang looked at the registration book and saw that 320 yuan was recorded. He then said, "Qin Huairu, go get the money." Qin Huairu looked at Yi Zhonghai and then at Sha Zhu, tears streaming down her face. "Our family has no money. We've already spent it all."

Then Qin Huairu tugged at Sha Zhu's sleeve and said:

"Zhu Zi, could you lend me some money? I really don't have any. I'll pay you back slowly after I get my salary next month."

Sha Zhu felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw Qin Huairu like this.

"Okay, Sister Qin, wait here." Sha Zhu turned around and went home. He took out the dowry money that he had originally left for He Yushui from under the bed, as well as the money he had saved over the years, totaling 400 yuan. Qin Huairu saw the money in Sha Zhu's hand and grabbed it all.

Sha Zhu stared at his empty hands, still savoring the moment Qin Huairu touched his fingers.

Director Wang took the money and returned it to each household according to the records. Qin Huairu took the remaining money.

Just as Sha Zhu was about to speak, Qin Huairu quickly said, "Zhu Zi, look, my family is out of food. Huaihua still needs to nurse, and Bang Geng got beaten up again today, so he needs to eat some meat to replenish his strength. Look at this money..."

As she spoke, tears began to fall again, one by one. Sha Zhu, unable to bear seeing Sister Qin like this, continued:

"It's alright, Sister Qin, just take this money and use it for now. Tomorrow I'll bring some more meat from the steel mill to nourish Bang Geng."

After Director Wang saw that everyone had received their money, he said, "Alright, everyone go back now. Xiao Li, let's go to your house for a bit." Just as he entered Li's house...

"Do you think I was too lenient with Yi Zhonghai and the others today?"

Li Yu quickly replied, "No way, Aunt Wang must have her reasons for doing that."

Director Wang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Li Yu say that.

"I owed a favor to the deaf old lady in the backyard before, and today's matter can be considered as repaying that favor. Moreover, Yi Zhonghai is an eighth-grade worker in the steel rolling mill, and it's hard to say whether the steel rolling mill will be held responsible if the punishment is too severe."

Our neighborhood needs the steel rolling mill to provide some supplies every year, and many unemployed young people in the neighborhood also have to wait for the steel rolling mill to assign them jobs.

"Aunt Wang, I know. Today is already very good," Li Yu said.

Director Wang said with a smile, "Okay, that's good. You can't be so reckless in the future. Look what you did to Bang Geng and He Yuzhu today."

Li Yu nodded repeatedly, like a well-behaved child.

Upon seeing this, Director Wang said, "Alright, I'll head back now. The street office staff are still waiting for me outside."

Li Yu quickly stood up and said, "I'll see your Aunt Wang off."

Director Wang waved his hand, "You should get some rest, no need to see me off," and then opened the door and left.